Using a model like that of meteorologists, the study found evidence of snow and ice that up to now has only been seen on Earth.

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These hundreds of feet tall, bowl-shaped depressions with blade-like spires around the edge are known as “penitentes.”

The research was led by John Moores of York University, Toronto, in collaboration with scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The findings indicate that these icy features could exist on other planets with similar environmental conditions.

The ridges found in the informally named Tararus Dorsa area suggest that the presence of an atmosphere is necessary for the formation of the penitentes

The ridges on Pluto are found to be much larger than those on Earth.

“This gargantuan size is predicted by the same theory that explains the formation of these features on Earth,” says Moores. “In fact, we were able to match the size and separation, the direction of the ridges, as well as their age: three pieces of evidence that support our identification of these ridges as penitentes.”